This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
When a tendon, or other soft tissue, is torn and separated from the bone, surgery may be needed for repair and reattachment of the tendon. Tendon reattachment surgeries can be performed on the bicep, rotator cuff, hand, foot, or in any other location on the body where a tendon is attached to bone. During some surgeries for reattachment of a tendon to bone, a bore is drilled through a cortex and bone, but not through a second cortex. The tendon is inserted in the bore and an interference screw is fixed within the bore to secure the tendon.
In other surgeries for reattachment of a tendon, or other soft tissue, to bone, an anchor may be inserted through both cortices in the bone tunnel, and generally must be malleted through the hole. Damage may occur to the second cortex if the anchor becomes misaligned in the hole. Damage may also occur to the nerves or arteries located past the second cortex if the anchor is malleted too far past the second cortex. In particular, in current practices, the anchor generally must be malleted 15 millimeters (mm) beyond the second cortex, increasing the chances that the anchor will contact nerves positioned near the second cortex. One method of current biceps tendon reattachment practices is described in “ToggleLoc Fixation Device with ZipLoop Technology: Biceps Tendon Reattachment Surgical Protocol,” by Mark J. Albritton, M.D. and Daniel Worrel, M.D. of Biomet Sports Medicine, a Biomet Company (2009, 2011), incorporated herein in its entirety.